A mindset change

"Let's go on the Ferris Wheel!" She shouts, dragging you along against your will. "Fine, fine, just don't rip off my arm!" You respond, chuckling.

You both take your seats in the ferris wheel carriage. Your Mom giggles and chats away as it starts to rise, "This is so exciting! I haven't been in one of these since..since..." She trails off. You know that look, she's thinking of your Father. "I'm sorry honey, its just...", she sighs, "Most of the day to day things are easy to get over. I work through those easy. But its the unique and rare things that still get me. Your Father loved the view from the top of the Ferris Wheel. I did too of course, which made our first ride a magical one. This is where we had our first kiss, and a few years later he proposed during a ride, if you can imagine that."

Her sorrowful expression just kills you, especially on that younger face. When you were a kid she did a good job of hiding those moments. You've never seen *this* face in particular this sad before.

"I'm sorry Mom, I know he meant a lot to you.", you say, as you glance out across the side, seeing the whole park below you. "He wasn't wrong, its a beautiful sight. All those people down there, so tiny and far away. Just us and the sky!"

"Yeah..." She mumbles, still a little forlorn. You hadn't intended on making anymore changes, but seeing her hurt is killing you. Its time for another quiet change, but you want to be careful. You don't want to artificially boost her mood or just make her forget about your Dad. You whisper and wink toward her...

"Mom will cherish memories of Dad, acknowledging that his time is past, what remains is joyful memorie and a new life before her."

While she's staring out across the view, you see her smile creep back onto her face. "The sky is so lovely today Davy. You know, one time the ride jammed and your Dad and I got stuck up here. We spent the next hour looking at the clouds and picking out shapes." None of what she said has any ring of sadness to it...as a matter of fact she continues., "Oh my gosh baby! Look at that one, it looks like an Elephant! And that one", she grabs your arm and points to a cluster of clouds, "Is a dog! See, its got cute little ears!".

"Hmm, I don't know Mom, maybe if you squint at it and look at it sideways." You respond, chuckling. She gives a pout, but can't hold back her laughter. She responds, "Well Mr. Critic, do you see anything?"

"Hmmmm", you scan the sky, then grab her hand and do the same to her, pointing at a large cluster. "Look, there's a dragon over there!" you say with a confident smirk. She smiles and acknowledges it, "I see it too! Good one Davy. I knew my boy had a good pair of eyes." She smiles and pats her hand on your lap.